s wineries have proliferated, so too have wonderful places to eat, creating a rewarding synergy between vintners and chefs. Here are 10 restaurants we recommend in Napa Valley, Sonoma County and Mendocino County.

I have fond memories of a Napa restaurant called Tra Vigne, whose chef, Michael Chiarello, won fans for his delicious takes on Italian cuisine. Chiarello is back in the kitchen at this venture in Yountville. He focuses on Italian regional dishes and relies on carefully sourced ingredients, with pasta, cured meats, fresh cheeses and cured olives all made in-house. Look for starters such as grilled short-rib-and-pinenut meatballs in Sicilian tomato sauce with sweet Italian peppers in agrodolce, fresh ricotta and coal-roasted eggplant; pastas like the veal-and-pork Bolognese with porcini mushroom sugo, rosemary and Parmigiano-Reggiano on tagliarini; and main courses that might include grilled acorn-fed pork shoulder loin with Tuscan beans and grilled stone fruit.

I have admired this Mendocino classic for many years, so when I heard that new owners had bought the café in late 2016, I made it a point to visit. Any concerns I might have had were dispelled by finding the place as charming as it has always been, with white wainscoting, green-blue walls and food as appealing as ever. We began with a superb black bean soup, and then followed with plump Dungeness crab cakes in a tangy scallion vinaigrette.